We are staying in Costa Rica for a week, and the first 3 days is in the most amazing hotel ever! It was right in the cloud forest, at one of the highest altitudes in Costa Rica. It is called Peace Lodge, and was voted on the top 10 places in the world to stay for a honeymoon, although it's also great to stay if you're not on a honeymoon too. The main room is just typical (well, a little nicer with a huge king bed that fits about ten people, a stone fireplace and nice high ceilings), then you have a little deck with a hammock and a jacuzzi hottub, but the bathroom is what's really cool. It is like a little garden. It's filled with tropical plants, and it also has a waterfall! It also has another jacuzzi tub, a 'garden shower' with a waterfall and a normal shower. You have a beautiful view of the cloud forest, but somtimes it is actually covered by a cloud so you can't see it. Another great thing about this hotel is that it's right on a huge nature park/zoo. Literally, we could see all the exibits from our room

. We got free access to the park and the zoo anytime we wanted. We went on a night frog tour, where we got to see and hold red eyed tree frogs, green leaf frogs, and many different kinds of poison dart frogs (the guide said frogs are really only poisonous if you eat them). We also got to feed parrots and hummingbirds at the zoo. There are hummingbirds everywhere in Costa Rica! There were nature trails too, so we hiked those. There were lots of beautiful waterfalls among the jungly trails. During the week we were in Costa Rica, it probably rained about 50% of the time. One day, when we were in our lodge, there was suddenly a violent shaking. Our whole building seemed to be wobbling back and forth on the cliffside it was attached to. It was my first earthquake! It only lasted for about a minute, but it was a 7.6. I didn't even realize an earthquake was happening until after it was done. Even though it was a big earthquake, there was only one death - and that person died of fear. The next few days we were in Costa Rica, we stayed in San Joaquin Deflores (near San Jose). This was in the city, not in the cloud forest like our last place. There, we went to the national Costa Rica theatre and museum. I noticed from people on the streets that they have Spanish fashion. Everyone dresses nicer. I didn't see a single person besides us with foam flip flops. They all had nice sandals or high heels. The national theatre was kind of small. There was just one theatre and it was big, but nothing like the overture center. The museum covered tons of different topics; there was even a butterfly section! It also used to be a facility where soldiers stayed and prisoners were kept. At one point there was a storm, and one of the scariest things happened to me. There was lightning all around us so I was running inside, but I stopped to wait for Soph and my mom right next to a metal pole. And then a lightning bolt hit the pole - just a few feet from my head! The crack was almost deafening. And when I turned just in time to see the lightning bolt, it was almost blinding too. I could feel the heat vibrating through the pole next to me. If I were touching or leaning on the pole, I would've been shocked. In the literal sense!